I’ve recently been added to the Econ register with a 5.6. I’ve read your update on the end of Diplomacy 3.0 and was wondering how a 10 month CR, a shorter CR, and the omnibus would all impact hiring? I know state wanted to hire around 800 FSO’s in FY 2011 and that attrition is around 350-400, but how many might be hired under each scenario? Also, is there a good source to track the budget bills? Finally, I read and enjoyed your book, are you thinking of coming out with an updated version?
These are good questions without good answers. Not all of the 1,370 hires (officers and specialists) using FY 2010 money have been taken on board, so a few — I don’t know how many — of the new hires in the current fiscal year will be counted against the remaining FY 2010 funds.
Congress failed to pass either a budget resolution or any of the twelve appropriations bills for FY 2011. In the lame duck session, the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through the end of FY 2011 at roughly FY 2010 levels. The CR will almost surely not pass the Senate (although a much shorter CR, running perhaps three months may do so), because Republican Senators want the new Congress to shape spending.
The omnibus appropriations bill adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday would make $2.75 billion available to the State Department for training, human resources management, and salaries, of which at least $141 million would have to be used for public diplomacy salaries and $249 million for salaries for the Worldwide Security Protection program. The bill stipulates that this FY 2011 money would remain available under September 30, 2012. (The text of the bill is at http://appropriations.senate.gov.) The omnibus bill would probably also allow hiring to replace attrition, which is projected at 400 officers and specialists per year.
Regardless of the outcome of the appropriations process, the administration may declare a hiring freeze to hold hiring to replacement levels, or may decide to reduce staff by hiring below attrition.
The likely path, and the current working hypothesis for the Department’s human resources planners, is that FY 2011 hiring, not counting those hired with FY 2010 funds, will roughly equal attrition.
Resources for tracking the budget bills include the Library of Congress’s THOMAS site, http://www.thomas.loc.gov, and the websites for the relevant Congressional committees. The Thomas site will pick up the track of the omnibus appropriations bill as soon as the bill is assigned a number. Good sources for political background and gossip are Josh Rogin’s “The Cable” blog at http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/ and http://www.politico.com.
Hi,
I’ve recently been added to the Econ register with a 5.6. I’ve read your update on the end of Diplomacy 3.0 and was wondering how a 10 month CR, a shorter CR, and the omnibus would all impact hiring? I know state wanted to hire around 800 FSO’s in FY 2011 and that attrition is around 350-400, but how many might be hired under each scenario? Also, is there a good source to track the budget bills? Finally, I read and enjoyed your book, are you thinking of coming out with an updated version?
These are good questions without good answers. Not all of the 1,370 hires (officers and specialists) using FY 2010 money have been taken on board, so a few — I don’t know how many — of the new hires in the current fiscal year will be counted against the remaining FY 2010 funds.
Congress failed to pass either a budget resolution or any of the twelve appropriations bills for FY 2011. In the lame duck session, the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through the end of FY 2011 at roughly FY 2010 levels. The CR will almost surely not pass the Senate (although a much shorter CR, running perhaps three months may do so), because Republican Senators want the new Congress to shape spending.
The omnibus appropriations bill adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday would make $2.75 billion available to the State Department for training, human resources management, and salaries, of which at least $141 million would have to be used for public diplomacy salaries and $249 million for salaries for the Worldwide Security Protection program. The bill stipulates that this FY 2011 money would remain available under September 30, 2012. (The text of the bill is at http://appropriations.senate.gov.) The omnibus bill would probably also allow hiring to replace attrition, which is projected at 400 officers and specialists per year.
Regardless of the outcome of the appropriations process, the administration may declare a hiring freeze to hold hiring to replacement levels, or may decide to reduce staff by hiring below attrition.
The likely path, and the current working hypothesis for the Department’s human resources planners, is that FY 2011 hiring, not counting those hired with FY 2010 funds, will roughly equal attrition.
Resources for tracking the budget bills include the Library of Congress’s THOMAS site, http://www.thomas.loc.gov, and the websites for the relevant Congressional committees. The Thomas site will pick up the track of the omnibus appropriations bill as soon as the bill is assigned a number. Good sources for political background and gossip are Josh Rogin’s “The Cable” blog at http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/ and http://www.politico.com.